Ten games to watch for 2011

Chris Greenwood and Albion
have a big slate ahead of them this year, with three Top 25 teams
and a D-I FCS non-scholarship opponent.
Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

Hello D3football fans, this is the first column for the Great
Lakes Region. I join Pat, Keith and the D3football.com gang after
serving as a Sports Information Director. I've been covering sports
as a writer, broadcaster or a media professional for nearly 25
years.

NCAA Division III sports are rich with tradition and seemingly
endless story lines. Over the weeks to come, I'll endeavor to share
of those tales that makes “student-athlete” model so
compelling.

First things first though, you have to know what stories to
follow. The regional columnists like myself are offering our top
ten games in their region. My beat includes Michigan
Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Ohio Athletic Conference,
the North Coast Athletic Conference and the Presidents’
Athletic Conference. We also have future NCAC member DePauw and
University Athletic Association members Case Western Reserve and
Carnegie Mellon, because of their geography.

Here were go, organized by date, rather than by importance, my
top ten games in the Great Lakes region this fall.

Albion at Wheaton, Sept. 10: With two
All-Americans in the lineup, Albion has have opted to take on
several Top 25 teams head-on. The philosophy is simple: be a
playoff qualifier come November. This one is a Saturday night
affair making it even more intriguing.

Washington and Jefferson at Delaware Valley on Sept.
10: This is a game in the second year of the PAC-MAC
Challenge series. The Presidents struggled early last season and
will be tested early this year with a Week 2 contest with 2010
Middle Atlantic Conference champ and playoff qualifier Delaware
Valley. Both teams are just outside the Top 25.

Albion at UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 24:
Everyone knows that one team from Wisconsin, but Stevens Point
isn't too shabby either. The Britons go right into the eye of the
storm. By the time they open up MIAA play, they'll either be a
battle tested unit, or wounded physically and emotionally. One
thing is certain they haven't feasted on a cream puff schedule.

Thomas More at Washington and Jefferson on Sept.
24: The conference elite go ahead to head early to take an
upper hand in the PAC title race. There's a lot of football to
play, but the road to the conference title likely will be an exit
ramp for the loser. In the last five years,W&J has finished
second three-straight seasons and their only losses have come at
the hands of The Saints.

MountUnion at Ohio Northern, Oct.
1: Perennial powers Mount Union and Ohio Northern meet up
in what could be the game of the year in the region, and it will
surely be the marquee game in the OAC. Ohio Northern has toiled in
the shadows with regular playoff appearances and has been ranked in
the top 25 for eight straight years, while the Purple Raiders have
played for, or won the national title every year since
2000.

Case Western Reserve at Wooster, Oct. 22: When
Case and Wooster meet, its one of the great traditions in D-III
football - The Baird Brothers Trophy name honoring brothers Bob and
Bill Baird one-time professors at Case and Wooster.

Baldwin-Wallace at Mount Union, Nov. 5: If the
Mount Union-Ohio Northern wasn't the game of the year in the OAC,
this one will be it. The winner should be the conference champ.
Mount Union might be untouchable, but the Yellow Jackets seem to be
on the rise and hope to challenge for a playoff berth.

Wittenbergat Wabash, Nov. 5:
Always a big rivalry, but this sets up to be the NCAC
championship, both teams enter the season in the Top 25. Wabash and
Wittenberg have split the last 12 games and six of those have been
by a touchdown or less.

Trine at Albion, Nov. 12: It's a rematch of the
2010 MIAA title game. On paper, the Thunder could be vulnerable.
Don't count on it. Sure, they've replaced a lot of key players, but
as with any quality program, success hinges on keeping the momentum
going as understudies step into the spotlight. Depending on how
Albion navigates its ambitious non-conference schedule, this one
could be a classic.

Wabashat DePauw, Nov. 12: The
Monon Bell game. These teams meet for the 118th time with as much
pageantry, tradition and history as any game at any level. Wabash
blasted DePauw in last year's clash. With significant playoff
implications at stake, there is even more fuel for this fire. If
there was a game that defined D-III football, this certainly one of
them.

Brian Lester is a reporter in Findlay, Ohio. He has 14 years of experience at newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio, spending the last 10 at The Courier in Findlay. Lester also writes an Around the Region column for D3hoops.com. He is a graduate of Eastern Illinois.